Bruins clinch first place in NHL

Saturday

Apr 12, 2014 at 9:46 PMApr 12, 2014 at 9:49 PM

Saturday's 4-1 victory over the Sabres assured the Bruins of finishing with the NHL's best record, but injuries to Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly put their lineup in doubt for the start of the playoffs.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

At the very least, they would have liked to emerge from Saturday’s game facing fewer questions than when they entered it.

The Bruins didn’t quite manage that, but they did take some of the mystery out of the final weekend of the regular season – and they got a trophy for doing so.

Saturday’s 4-1 victory over NHL doormat Buffalo assured the Bruins of finishing the regular season with the NHL’s best record, so they get the Presidents’ Trophy no matter what happens in this afternoon’s finale at New Jersey (3:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5).

The certainty of up to four rounds of home ice in the playoffs was nice, but shorter term, the B’s were left wondering how they will fill four forward lines for Thursday’s anticipated Round 1 opener against Detroit.

Already without winger Chris Kelly, who left Tuesday’s shootout loss at Minnesota with a back injury that left coach Claude Julien saying “I can’t guarantee anything” about Kelly’s availability later this week, the B’s had to finish Saturday’s game without his replacement.

Daniel Paille, moved up to Kelly’s position at left wing on the third line, needed help to stay on his skates and get to the dressing room after absorbing a hard hit from Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe with 12:43 to play. Paille, also a full-time penalty-killer, is suspected to have sustained his third concussion of the season.

Neither Paille nor Kelly will play today against the Devils, and they’re not the only Bruins who will be back at home: Patrice Bergeron, for one, is all but assured of getting a DNP after coming out of Saturday’s game at the end of the second period.

Fortunately, Julien said Bergeron left because of something “very minor,” and there was every suspicion that the Bruins’ superb two-way center had been pulled to keep him out of the line of fire in a game that was threatening to get out of hand.

John Scott, the Sabres’ 6-foot-8 enforcer, had been at his menacing best in the second period, starting with the needlessly forceful completion of a check that knocked Bergeron to the ice. Later, Scott threw an elbow at B’s defenseman Johnny Boychuk, and at the 9:58 mark of the period, he came off the bench during a line change and sought out Milan Lucic, who had earlier roughed up Buffalo’s Matt D’Agostini after a goalmouth scrum.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara stepped in before Scott and Lucic fought; Scott and Chara were assessed game-ending misconducts after exchanging words prior to a faceoff with 3:40 left in the game.

Bergeron, meanwhile, had pushed the Bruins’ lead to 3-0 less than two minutes after Scott stalked Lucic, scoring his 30th goal on a nice pass from Brad Marchand.

“I’m really proud of what (Bergeron) has accomplished this year,” Julien said. “To be able to score 30 and be so reliable defensively, and be as strong at both ends of the ice – that’s an incredible player in my mind.”

David Krejci, the Bruins’ other elite center, scored his 18th and 19th goals, including the winner with 1:17 left in the first period. That followed a goal from Gregory Campbell, who redirected a pass from Jordan Caron – the winger who had replaced Paille on the fourth line.

Tuukka Rask made 24 saves to earn his 36th, and likely final win of the regular season.

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @MLoftus_Ledger.